


down for the count

by 8moons2stars



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, random experiment with numbers and stuff, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 10:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21355141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8moons2stars/pseuds/8moons2stars
Summary: Joohyun really needed to stop getting too engrossed with her lists.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Comments: 5
Kudos: 183





	down for the count

_ten._   
  


Joohyun was ten when she had met Seungwan, the latter all chubby-cheeked and wide-eyed wonderment as she skipped around the park, humming to a tune only she could hear, backpack lifting and jingling from the various keychains attached to it with her every step.  
  


Joohyun had narrowed her eyes then, toes prodding the ground as she slowed her swinging in order to regard this tiny bundle of weirdness traipsing about. It was days later that she found out that that kid was her new neighbor and was only three years younger than her.  
  


Ten more times she saw Seungwan around before the younger girl had the courage to come up to her and say hello, offering her half-burnt cookies she had baked herself. Joohyun wanted to point out the burnt edges, but Seungwan was turning so pink and shifting around so nervously that she couldn’t bring herself to criticize her baking.  
  


She took a bite out of one and chewed thoughtfully; it was too sweet and buttery. “Hmm. A ten out of ten.”  
  


But Seungwan’s bright smile was ten times sweeter.

_nine._   
  


It took Joohyun nine years to realize that she was in love with Seungwan.  
  


They’d been best friends for years. Seungwan’s baking skills had improved by a _lot. _Joohyun wasn’t lying anymore when she rated her cookies and muffins a perfect ten.  
  


_Seungwan_ was a perfect ten.  
  


Warm, caring, beautiful. How could Joohyun not fall for her?  
  


Joohyun believed that Seungwan felt the same. Her eyes could never truly hide anything, not to Joohyun, at least. It was there. She was sure.  
  


They both just had to say it out loud.  
  


She pondered how to confess for nine days, driving Seulgi crazy with her outlandish ideas.  
  


“Maybe I should throw a rock at her window and do that fansign thing in Taylor Swift’s music video.”  
  


“Unnie…”  
  


“Or that thing in Love Actually when-“  
  


“What’s up with you and fansigns?”  
  


“Nothing!” And there really wasn’t. She just wanted everything to be perfect – just like how those scenes seemed. Seungwan deserved perfect.  
  


“You could bake her something?” Seulgi suggested as she began cuddling the bunny plushie Seungwan had gotten Joohyun for her 19th birthday.  
  


Joohyun nodded, liking the idea. “But…I can’t bake, though.” She sighed sadly.  
  


“C’mon! We can try. Seungwan practiced baking dozens of times so that she could finally make something you’d like.”  
  


“She…did?”  
  


“Yeah. Her parents went nuts when they saw the grocery bill.”  
  


That new piece of information made Joohyun’s gut feel all funny. Was this what ‘butterflies in your stomach’ felt like?  
  


Whatever it was, she was hoping she could make Seungwan feel it for her too.

_eight._   
  


Their first kiss lasted for eight seconds.  
  


They were eight seconds that Joohyun would never forget. Seungwan had tasted like the red velvet cupcake Joohyun had baked for her, and Joohyun couldn’t get enough.  
  


She tried and failed (many, _many_ times) to bake those pesky things, but she finally got eight right. Enough to write with cream cheese frosting eight heartfelt letters: I LOVE YOU.  
  


“I love you too,” Seungwan murmured against her lips, their foreheads pressed together as they caught their breath.  
  


Joohyun smiled wide, so happy to have this sunshine in her arms to call her own. “How was it?” she asked, pertaining to the cupcakes she’d worked on for eight hours.  
  


Seungwan hummed. Her eyes flicked down to Joohyun’s lips, making Joohyun swallow as her heart thumped loudly against her chest. “A ten out of ten.”

_seven._   
  


Joohyun woke up to various knocks on her door. She groaned as she stretched her limbs across the bed, buying time for that person to _go away._  
  


Alas, another set of knocks started up again, and she forced herself to get up and answer the door.  
  


She opened it to one clearly intoxicated Seungwan, cheeks flushed and eyes shining with unshed tears as she gazed up at Joohyun.  
  


“Unnie,” she croaked out, and damn Joohyun if her heart didn’t flutter. “I’m sorry,” she hiccupped.  
  


In her sleep-addled state, it took a while for Joohyun to recall what they had fought about hours ago.  
  


“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Seungwan continued to babble, and Joohyun quickly pulled her inside lest she woke up her dormmates.  
  


Seungwan used the opportunity to wrap her arms around Joohyun, and they stumbled a few steps back before Joohyun regained her balance for the both of them.  
  


Joohyun cringed at the strong stench of alcohol, but slowly reciprocated the embrace. “How many bottles have you had to drink?”  
  


“Seven,” Seungwan mumbled against her neck, and Joohyun shivered at the contact, even as she chuckled.  
  


“Maybe you mean seven _shots_?”  
  


“Mm. Maybe. You smell nice.”  
  


“And you kinda…don’t.”  
  


“Sorry…”  
  


“It’s okay.” Joohyun carded her fingers through Seungwan’s hair gently, amused more than anything. And maybe a little too flattered that Seungwan would come all the way to her college just to apologize. She’d ask how she got here safely, but she knew she probably wouldn’t get a straight answer; she could just ask her tomorrow. “You can take a shower and sleep here tonight, hmm?”  
  


“I think…I’ll just…take a nap right here.”  
  


Seungwan’s sudden deadweight almost made Joohyun stumble again, but she buckled her knees and held her ground. She gently pushed Seungwan back to see her face, and _yep - _knocked out cold.  
  


“What am I going to do with you, you _pabo_?” Joohyun murmured a little too lovingly.

_six_.  
  


Joohyun dusted off her hands after dropping the last box of their things on the floor. She and Seungwan had just moved into an apartment on the sixth floor of this quaint building together, and it may just be the best…or worst decision of their lives.  
  


Best because Joohyun loved Seungwan to bits and wanted to be with her forever, but worst because she knew this was a huge turning point that could make or break them. She’d heard about couples who ended up separating because they couldn’t stand living with each other, but Joohyun hoped against all odds that she and Seungwan wouldn’t end up that way.  
  


“Agh! I’m so tired!” Seungwan lay down on the floor beside her as she tried to catch her breath. She lifted the hem of her tank top, swiping at the sweat on her face, and Joohyun was suddenly struck dumb by the sight of her flat and defined tummy. “We should’ve taken up Seulgi’s offer to help us move our stuff.”  
  


“Uh huh.” Said abs were contracting and relaxing in the most _distracting _manner in time with Seungwan’s breathing.  
  


“And Sooyoung, too.” That snapped Joohyun out of her naughty thoughts. Sooyoung was one of Seungwan’s classmates in theatre, and even though the girl was _supposedly _straight, the way she clung to Seungwan made the hairs at the back of Joohyun’s neck stand up in suspicion. And _maybe_ jealousy. Just maybe.  
  


“I don’t think so,” she deadpanned.  
  


“Huh. I thought you weren’t listening to me. My eyes are up here, by the way.”  
  


Joohyun swallowed guiltily, looking up to sparkling eyes crinkling at the corners with amusement.  
  


“I’m kidding, unnie. You’re free to look. I’m all yours,” said Seungwan, topping it off with a saucy wink.

_five._   
  


Joohyun blearily blinked at her laptop screen, the words she had just typed out swimming in her vision. Her eyes made their way to the digital clock at the bottom of the screen, and she sighed upon finding out that it was already five in the morning.  
  


She picked up her cold mug of coffee, and with 95% will and 5% energy, tried to stand up and make herself a fresh batch. The soft thuds of sock-covered footsteps behind her instantly brought a small smile to her face, and she set down the mug just as warm arms wrapped around her waist.  
  


“Come to bed,” is whispered delicately at the crook of her neck, Seungwan’s sleep-rough voice making her shiver unconsciously.  
  


Joohyun tried even though she knew she’d already lost. “I still…” A soft kiss is planted on the skin where her neck met her shoulder, making her feel more awake than she’d been for hours.  
  


“Unnie…”  
  


In under a minute, she was in bed with Seungwan wrapped around her, the other girl already falling back to sleep, exhaling warm, steady breaths against her chest. Meanwhile, Joohyun’s mind was still trying to relentlessly form new sentences for her article, brittle and never really solidifying into something she could work with.  
  


Joohyun snuggled closer to Seungwan, hoping that the scent of her would drive her useless brain to sleep. Instead of counting sheep, she counted Seungwan’s breaths, only reaching five before she finally clocked off into dreamy oblivion.

_four._   
  


It took four more years before they could confidently say they were stable in their professions. Joohyun had been recently hired by a well-known magazine, allowing her to publish monthly articles with some freelancing on the side. Seungwan had chosen to become an EMT after graduating med school, which was perfect for her because she was calm under pressure and had the heart to care_._  
  


Four years and Joohyun finally let go of her fears and uncertainties about living with Seungwan. They were far from perfect – the both of them – but they loved each other enough to let the right things go and make the wrong things right.

_three_.  
  


There were always three words they said to each other every day.  
  


Most of the time, it’s _I love you. _Spoken with a soft smile, a gentle tug closer, and a kiss to punctuate.  
  


On some days, it’s _You love me. _Said teasingly, eyes sparkling even with the truth it brought and its impossible denial.  
  


On days they didn’t ever want to remember, it’s _I hate you. _Paired with anger dulled with tears, a harsh inhale the very moment after, like they tried to take it back.  
  


On those very same days, if not the next, it’s _I forgive you. _Accompanied by an embrace so tight even air couldn’t pass through, stricken with regret that’s carefully driven away by untethered love in the form of endless kisses and murmurs.

_two_.  
  


“I want one with your eyes and my humor.”  
  


“But I want one with your eyes too!”  
  


“Okay, then we should have two kids. At least.”  
  


“Deal.”  
  


“…Should we shake on it?”  
  


“What? No.”  
  


“Seal it with a kiss, then?”  
  


“…How about two kisses? At least.”  
  


“This is the best deal ever.”

_one._   
  


She was her one, that much was clear. The first one she wanted to see when she woke up. The first person she wanted to talk to when she was stressed out or angry or hurt about absolutely anything. The only one who could see through her walls, and the only one whom Joohyun had given the power to build them or break them, however she chose.  
  


They’re lying by the fireplace, Seungwan trying to stifle a yawn as her recent 24-hour duty caught up with her. Joohyun was typing on her laptop with one hand – Seungwan’s own intertwined with the other – as she finally began to work on her article. It’s safe to say that her thoughts were drifting around at the moment, what with everything she’d been planning for the weekend.  
  


Joohyun absentmindedly rubbed Seungwan’s left ring finger, hoping the ring she had picked out would look as perfect on her soon-to-be-fiancée as she’d imagined it to be.  
  


“Tired?” Seungwan asked.  
  


Joohyun huffed out a laugh. “Are you talking to yourself?”  
  


“Mm. You got me.” Seungwan snuggled closer, letting herself yawn shamelessly onto Joohyun’s shoulder.  
  


_I do, and I feel like the luckiest person in the world because of it._   
  


“How was your day?” Seungwan asked her, eyes already fluttering shut.  
  


“I just wrote. A lot.” _About you. For you. _Joohyun thought her proposal looked good on paper. She was good with words, but saying them out loud? It was nerve-wracking. But for Seungwan? She would do anything.  
  


Seungwan hummed, oblivious to the tidal wave of emotions crashing through the woman beside her. “I’m sure you’ve been writing beautiful things for that Christmas article.”  
  


“Yeah. I wrote really beautiful things.” _For a really beautiful you. _Joohyun sniffled quietly, struggling to get herself together. She might end up sobbing on the couch if she wasn’t careful. She loved Seungwan _so much. _Gosh, she was such a sap.  
  


Seungwan nodded sleepily, attempting to give her a proud smile which morphed into another yawn. “I should go to bed before I start drooling on you,” she said, struggling to disentangle their limbs together and get off the couch, but Joohyun only pulled her closer.  
  


“It’s okay. I don’t mind.”  
  


“You say that now…” Seungwan murmured doubtfully, even as her head on Joohyun’s shoulder grew heavier by the second, making Joohyun smile.  
  


It was unreal to think that Joohyun had been with Seungwan since she was ten – as neighbors, as friends turning into lovers just as inevitable as the changing of the seasons.  
  


And three nights from now, things would be different. A _great _kind of different, if Seungwan said yes.  
  


The aforementioned woman began to snore softly against her neck as Joohyun switched her tab to the document she’d been working on all day, fully giving up on her pretense of working for the night.

_Proposal ideas:_

  1. _Finally try out that fansign thing in Love Actually_
  2. _Maybe I should try baking cupcakes again (WILL YOU MARRY ME?) – but 15 perfect cupcakes might be pushing it_
  3. _Ring in champagne? Ring in cake?_
  4. _Flash mob choreographed by Seulgi_
  5. _Striptease – just because it’d be fun to see Seungwan glow red lolol_
  6. _Picnic under the sjahsjajd_

“Striptease? What kind of Christmas article is that?” Joohyun jerked her fingers all over the keyboard in surprise, almost shutting the laptop on her hand in her haste to hide the screen. She couldn’t believe she didn’t notice that Seungwan had stopped snoring.  
  


“N-nothing. It’s nothing. Go back to sleep,” she stuttered out unconvincingly.  
  


Thankfully, it seemed like that was the only word Seungwan had processed due to her state of exhaustion. She nodded sleepily and closed her eyes again, and Joohyun was only able to unclench her orifices when Seungwan resumed her adorable snoring.  
  


Maybe Joohyun should stop gambling with fate and go to sleep before her plans get blown out of the water.

_zero._   
  


Careful not to wake Seungwan next to her, Joohyun wrapped herself in a fluffy purple bathrobe and opened a new document on her laptop.

_Honeymoon ideas:_

  1. _STRIPTEASE_
  2. _Research on beaches that have no zipline adventures_
  3. _Netflix and chill_
  4. _Noraebang for Seungwan_
  5. _Picnic under the stars_
  6. _Beach sex (*research if beach sex is safe and sanitary)_

“Striptease again… Was this what you were writing about before, unnie?”  
  


Joohyun really needed to stop getting too engrossed with her lists.


End file.
